I think we're mostly in agreement that Buckley was not a huge fan of the way things panned out at Watford, although I read this tweet from the club's official account this morning: Anyone read the article? I'm hoping it'll be online soon but found that comment rather interesting!
I thought the quote actually came from the Brighton web-site - so he would tell their press it was an easy decision coming to a team 'on the up', with a brand new stadium and possibly a bigger budget than us! I think if a player came to us and said the same things, we would be happy with the words!
Will be getting my copy of the Wobby shortly It's easy to see why Buckley might have felt like a square peg in a round hole here, and why the chance of being Brighton's biggest signing ever on higher wages than our current structure would appeal. I doubt he intended to be disrespectful. Even if he did, it's not like he's done a Mike Williamson, or been as blatant about wanting out as Lee Williamson.
Here's the interview to the Brighton web-ste, so I assume Wobby has just copy and pasted parts of it; http://www.seagulls.co.uk/page/Latest/0,,10433~2372462,00.html He does actually say it was difficult to leave Watford, and also admitted he hopes to be more consistent after only showing glimpses of what he is capable of!
In the context of the entire pieces, I've seen nothing in the Wobby, or on the Brighton site, to be alarmed or upset about.
Well the only thing I'd say is that one of the first thing to come from Buckley (press may have cherry picked the comment) was that the new Brighton stadium was quite key in his move. Can't help but see that as a little dig at our three sided setup.
I think the whole interview was very calm and generally very professional, he says nothing bad about us and even compliments us as being an established championship side, which is rather nice of him. The only thing i kinda chuckle at is the comment about liking to run at defenders when he has the ball, but it would seem that that was why MM dropped him at the end of the season, cos he stopped doing that. However i do wish him the best of luck, and hope to see him many more times in his future.
I'd say the same thing, and I support the club! He did also say that he appreciated the reaction that he personally got from Watford fans, even when he wasn't at his best.
You know what, thinking about it, I'd be hard pushed not to appreciate any other ground in the top two divisions!
TBF From a playing point of view he probably got a bit hacked off about being dropped every other week and quite frankly probably cannot wait to play on a decent pitch. I read the interview and he praised the fans and said we had some excellent team spirit. Suspect the quoted comment was via an answer to a question such as "Was is tricky to move to Brighton from us". He's hardly going to say "actually I don't really want to be here and its not much of a step up" on a Brighton based website!
He has to think about his new fans. He can hardly say "I really don't want to come to Brighton where there is a new stadium with no heritage or character. Even the extra money wasn't an attraction. I'd much rather have stayed at Watford on half the pay because I believe that Watford have such a good manager that they will be in the play-offs next season rather than battling relegation like Brighton. The only reason I have come to Brighton is because of a clause in my contract that states I have to do other jobs the owner of the club requires and I don't want to work as a stripper in another failed restaurant. The only footballing advantage in me coming to Brighton is that they are such a crap team I am going to look good no matter how badly I play" I think he has given a good, balanced reponse.
I'm not sure if I've been misunderstood! I got the impression from the official tweet that a lot of fans had taken it in a bad light. Obviously he's going to play up to his new fans; but I was just interested to see what the interview in the WO was about - suggested that it might have been something along the lines of him leaving reluctantly or something!
Somebody has written the interview up here... http://www.wfcforums.com/showthread.php?t=38165 I also feels its a fair minded report without slagging us off (when he could have had a pop at Malky) and naturally being positive about Brighton. Know people think footballers are dim self obsessed young men but the line of questioning can be pretty bland TBH..almost as if the press are trying to get a "quote" out of said player to create headlines. How many times do you hear somebody ask.."Are you happy/how do you feel after a big move or winning a cup"! Your going to get a boring sterotypical answer from most let alone guys who have been trained to say certain things/cannot think of much to say.
I'm okay with the Buckley situation. Watford need cash, Brighton offered decent money (all cash up front), so a deal was done. Watford wont get relegated because Buckley left, we will get relegated if we lose many more key men (MacKay, Cowie, GT etc).
